Zachary Claman DeMelo is set to replace the injured Pietro Fittipaldi at Dale Coyne Racing in the IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis.
Pietro Fittipaldi had made one career IndyCar start at ISM Raceway in Avondale, Arizona on the first Saturday of April prior to being involved in a wreck in the World Endurance Championship race at at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot, Belgium last Friday.
This horrific crash left the 21-year-old Brazilian with two broken legs, and it knocked him out of both of his scheduled races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana later this month.
Fittipaldi was scheduled to compete in his #19 Honda for Dale Coyne Racing in both the IndyCar Grand Prix on the track’s 13-turn, 2.439-mile road course before he was scheduled to get the Fittipaldi name back to the Indianapolis 500 at the track’s four-turn, 2.5-mile oval in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.
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Because of Fittipaldi’s awful but thankfully non-life threatening injuries, Dale Coyne Racing have named his replacement for the IndyCar Grand Prix, the first of these two races. Zachary Claman DeMelo, who is the other part-time driver of the team’s #19 Honda this season, is set to drive in that race.
The 20-year-old Canadian has made four career IndyCar starts, including three through the first four races so far this season. He has finished as high as 17th place, which he pulled off in last season’s season finale at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California, which was his first career IndyCar race driving for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, and he did so again in the 2018 season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
The team have not yet named Fittipaldi’s replacement in the #19 Honda for the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day Sunday, but expect that announcement to come within the next few days or, at the very longest, week and a half or so prior to qualifying for the race. There are several potential candidates, including Claman DeMelo, to land that ride as well.
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How will Zachary Claman DeMelo perform as the replacement driver for Pietro Fittipaldi in the IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana this weekend? Watch the race on Saturday, May 12 to find out. It is set to be broadcast live on ABC starting at 3:30 pm ET on that date.